Poor breastfeeding rates are fuelling Britain's childhood obesity crisis, NHS chairman warns

The Health Service could slash the nation's 'staggering and frightening' rates of childhood obesity if it did more to promote breastfeeding, the chairman of NHS England has said.Breastfeeding has proven health benefits over formula milk and can cut childhood obesity by more than a quarter, Dr Penny Dash added.But she claimed that England performs 'exceptionally badly' on sustained uptake compared with other countries and the NHS has 'given up' encouraging new mums to persevere.Speaking at an event at the King's Fund think-tank in London, she added: 'To me, that's like saying we're not going to bother vaccinating people.'The Infant Feeding Survey, published earlier this year, reveals 86 per cent of mothers in England initiate breastfeeding but only 56 per cent are exclusively breastfeeding after one week and 26 per cent at six months.Some countries, such as Sri Lanka and Burundi, maintain rates above 80 per cent.Meanwhile, more than one in ten children (10.5 per cent) are obese and a further 13 per cent are overweight by the time they start primary school in England, aged four or five.This grows to more than one in five (22.2 per cent) and 14 per cent, respectively, by the they leave aged ten or 11. Dr Penny Dash, chairman of NHS England, said the NHS has 'given up' encouraging mums to breastfeedDr Dash said: 'We perform exceptionally badly globally in terms of our rates of breastfeeding.'So it's an intervention which reduces obesity by 25 to 26 per cent and we don't advocate it.'To me, that's like saying we're not going to bother vaccinating people.'So why have we given up on that? It's not entirely clear to me and that's clearly something for the health service to do.'The Infant Feeding Survey revealed the most common reasons new mums give up breastfeeding are difficulty latching, feeling they do not produce enough milk and painful breasts and nipples.Others said they were too tired, had to return to work or education or that their baby always seemed hungry.Some 72 per cent who quit breastfeeding said they would have liked to continue for longer – and many of these felt they may have been able to do so if they had more support in hospital or at home from community midwifery teams.Discussing health more broadly at the event, Dr Dash added: 'We have had a population that's become a lot unhealthier over the last ten years – really quite staggering. The Infant Feeding Survey, published earlier this year, reveals 86 per cent of mothers in England initiate breastfeeding but only 56 per cent are exclusively breastfeeding after one week and 26 per cent at six months.'The numbers of children by the age of five who are overweight and obese is absolutely staggering and frightening.'So that is a major challenge that we all face.'The NHS England website tells mums: 'Whether you decide to breastfeed or formula feed (or a bit of both), we have advice and tips to support you.'It's up to you and your baby to decide when you want to finish breastfeeding.'The NHS's Derbyshire Family Health Service has a section titled 'the choice is yours' on its breastfeeding page and adds: 'No-one will pressure you to feed in a particular way.'Dr Dash said responsibility for improving public health extends beyond the NHS to local authorities and other parts of government but ministers and counsellors are sometimes scared to take action for fear of appearing like a 'nanny state'.She stressed health workers continue to have an important role to play in encouraging people to adopt healthier lifestyles.Dr Dash added: 'We know exactly the same as we had with smoking-that actually the voice of clinicians is important in influencing people.'So I think that is a clear thing that we need to keep reiterating the messages about healthy diet and exercise and all the other various preventative approaches.'But ultimately, I think, as well, we need a pan-societal approach to this that needs to go way beyond the health of others.'And I really, really, really hope that government's brave enough to do that.'She described how efforts to discuss obesity during her previous role in north-west London had faced political opposition, with one local leader repeatedly responding: 'Oh, nanny state, nanny state, not going near it, nanny state'.Ultimately, disagreements over state intervention and structural poverty resulted in the 'whole conversation' being shut down, she revealed.Catherine Hine, chief executive of The Breastfeeding Network, which provides free advice and support, said: 'It's great to hear the Chair of NHS England highlight the importance of supporting mums and families who want to breastfeed.'This matters because the evidence consistently shows that despite recent improvements, almost three in four mothers still stop breastfeeding before they want to.'This is usually because of challenges that could be addressed with the right support at the right time.'Dr Dash also said the NHS needs better 'financial discipline' and comprehensive ledgers that show exactly what taxpayer money is being spent on.'It's not acceptable that we don't know where the money goes. That can't be right,' she added.